Lessons: An After the War Sidestory
by rimshotstinger
Summary: A compilation of the ByaKarin mini-arc portions of my IchiRuki fic, "After the War", separated and moved for ease of organization.
1. Chapter 1

"Captain Kyoraku, Captain Ukitake, Captain Hirako, Captain Muguruma, Captain Zaraki," the old man rifled off, his unmistakable tone a leathery slap to the ears. "You have been called here to discuss an important coming event in Soul Society...the adoption of a second Deputy _Shinigami_."

His words hung in the air between the six of them until they were drowned in the ensuing tension. Nobody would say anything, and damn if Shinji was going to be the first to do it. He'd only accepted his former position five years ago, after the war, and it still felt...tenuous.

"So what exactly are we discussing here, Yama-_jii_," Kyoraku chimed in, as tension-shatteringly casual as ever. "Seems to me like you've already made a decision."

"That is the precisely the opposite of the truth," came Yamamoto. Jeez, couldn't the geezer just say _Nope_ or something like a normal person? His way of talking really rubbed Shinji wrong. "I have called you five here to convince me whether or not to accept this new _Shinigami_."

Whoa. Quite a responsibility there. Shinji had never felt so trusted by the old man, or more afraid of him. His temper was something else – if Shinji said the wrong thing...

Shinji took what he feared could have been his last breath. "Excuse me, but why us five, then?" he chanced. Then waited...

"Most of you share a personal connection to our most recently-appointed Deputy, Ichigo Kurosaki. Given what you know of his accomplishments in the position, you may prove useful in judging whether or not this new appointment will be equally successful," he explained. And Shinji kept right on breathing. Wow.

"Does this mean you think there's a chance something could go wrong?" Kensei piped up from beside Shinji, where he sat unceremoniously, leaned back with one leg bent up and the other tucked beneath it. He acted like he was simply lazing about and chatting with an old friend...and Shinji felt jealous from his position of back-achingly straight posture and leg-numbing formality.

"Nothing is ever certain. There is always the possibility of things going awry," Yamamoto pointed out sternly.

"You're referring to Kugo Ginjo," Kyoraku said with a knowing smirk. Yamamoto took a moment to nod solemnly. "Well, who's the new guy, then? Does he resemble Kugo, or Ichigo-_kun_?"

"I suppose you might say they resemble Ichigo Kurosaki," Yamamoto said contemplatively. "It's his younger sister."

Whoa, wait, Ichigo had one of those?

Shinji was relieved to see that everyone else seemed as bewildered as he felt.

"How did this happen?" asked Ukitake, breaking the stunned silence. "How did she become a _Shinigami_?"

"Using the same method as did Ichigo, I understand," Yamamoto answered, sounding slightly miffed. "I've been told it was a special circumstance." He didn't seem to believe that part.

"What? But that's—"

"Beyond our jurisdiction," Yamamoto cut in. Shinji was wholly surprised that the old man thought _anything_ was outside his jurisdiction. "The one who performed the act was Kisuke Urahara, who is already in exile. Unfortunately," Yamamoto continued a tad bitterly, "I do not have the resources to waste bringing him here to be tried for his actions. As a former Captain and compatriot of two others, it would take no less than that to bring him here, if successful at all. The Central 46 is still in the process of reorganizing since their decimation by Aizen years ago, and we too are still fortifying our defences to assure no such thing happens again."

Yamamoto's fists were clenched as he inhaled, preparing to continue. It looked like he had struggled with this issue already by himself.

"Therefore," he went on, seeming to have reclaimed some calmness, "we shall instead focus on determining the merit of this new potential addition to our ranks."

"And if we decide against letting her in?" Kensei asked seriously.

"Then her _Saketsu_ and _Hakusui _shall be pierced immediately, and she will be rendered powerless," said the old man simply.

"And what's stopping us from doing that now?" Kensei pressed. Shinji wondered why he seemed so anxious about the prospect of a new Deputy, but his train of thought was derailed when Yamamoto went on.

"Captain Korotsuchi has informed me that there is a strong possibility that she will turn out prodigious like her brother, and therefore prove quite useful as another war potential, should the need ever arise," the old man said.

"A reserve soldier?" came Kyoraku.

"Precisely," Yamamoto agreed. "It would be no exaggeration to say that Ichigo Kurosaki was the sole reason the war was ended. Captain Kurotsuchi has taken that into account, and suggested considering the girl for training, in hopes that she might prove to be a match for her brother."

"So Kurotsuchi's already on-board with this?" Shinji asked in disbelief. "That's a shocker."

Yamamoto fixed Shinji with what could have been a glare. Though through the old man's eyes, maybe every look seemed like that. "He finds the girl...interesting..."

Ah, now _that_ sounded like Kurotsuchi.

"So this chick's gonna be as good a fighter as Ichigo?" Zaraki hissed in excitement. He was already tickling the hilt of his long-ass sword. He broke out in a murderous grin, which made Shinji long for another glare from the old man instead. "Count me in," he growled.

Jeez, what a simple guy.

"I agree," Ukitake piped up, to Zaraki's astonishment, it seemed. Shinji's too. "Ichigo Kurosaki is already a fine addition to our ranks, I can only see good things coming from having his sister join us," he said with a cheerful smile. "I'll have the Twelfth produce another badge right away if need be."

"That goes for me too, Yama-_jii_," Kyoraku said with a grin as he slapped Ukitake on the back in a comradely way. "No way any relative of Ichigo-_kun_'s is gonna turn sour like Kugo, so count me in too."

But Kensei broke the cycle. He seemed deep in thought as he gazed in defocus at the _tatami_ mats beneath them. Finally, he spoke, sounding really unlike himself.

"I trained with Ichigo myself," he said without taking his eyes from the floor. "It's true he did really well, but that's because he was unpredictable – And the same goes for when he beat Aizen..." said the pensive Kensei. "He won with pure bullheadedness all the way; he only stayed alive 'cause he was too stupid to know when he was dead...Is someone like that...okay to put our trust in again?" he asked.

"That is your decision, Captain Muguruma. It is why you were called here," said the old man.

Then came the last thing Shinji expected: Kensei grinned. "What the hell," he said, tilting his head up to lock eyes with Zaraki, "can't be any worse than you, right?" Rather than be insulted, Zaraki seemed to perk up at those words, and grinned freakishly some more.

Man, what a creepy—

Oh...

Shinji realized that everyone was staring at him. Of course, he hadn't answered yet himself.

"Captain Hirako?" the old man's voice invaded.

Shinji let himself get away with a single chuckle, mostly to calm himself. "As if I'm gonna be the one guy not to join the fun," he said. "I'm in."

"Then you've convinced me. With Captain Kurotsuchi's own vote, the count is seven, bringing us into the majority. It's decided: Karin Kurosaki shall receive our support," the old man said with finality. His own opinion seemed neither here nor there, which was odd for him. But then again, this whole meeting had been odd. "Next," he went on, surprising Shinji, "I am told it's been decided that she will learn _shunpo_, in addition to her continuing lessons in swordsmanship, which Urahara has already introduced her to."

"Swordsmanship and _shunpo_," came Kyoraku with a devious grin. "Seems like we already know the prime candidate to be her _sensei_..."

"You don't mean—" Kensei began, but Kyoraku cut him off.

"Who else can?" he asked. "You and Shinji-_kun_ are still shuffling things around after retaking control of your Divisions, so it's not like you have the time; Ukitake doesn't have the energy needed to take on a student like that; and you can rule out him" – he jutted a thumb in Zaraki's direction – "and Mayuri-_san_, because they'd both end up slicing her up sooner or later."

"And yourself?"

At that, Kyoraku smirked. "I'm busy," was all he gave.

"Hold on," interjected Ukitake, suddenly lost. "Why does Urahara not simply continue her training in the Living World?"

Oh yeah. That was a good question.

"It would seem there was an accident..."

* * *

Karin hadn't seen Urahara-_san_ since that day, when—

She felt dumb now, having worried so much about her...development. She should have been focusing more that day.

But seriously, how big were they going to get? She had to be nearly a C-cup already, and that meant she was still ahead of Yuzu. Worst of all, Yuzu actually seemed _jealous _of them. Well, if she wanted them, she could haven them; they weren't anything but trouble to Karin, and she bet Jinta would appreciate them on her sister.

Sports bras did great until you realized that you didn't decide what clothing your soul popped out wearing. She'd never bothered to check before, because it had only recently become an issue, but it felt like wraps around her chest. Like bandages, maybe. Whatever it was, it didn't feel like enough.

She had already begun to feel uneasy around Urahara-_san_ because of it by the time he finally unsheathed Benihime. Her own sword had suddenly appeared when she exited her body maybe a week prior, which signalled to Urahara-_san_ that it was the right time to step up their training. Karin agreed – she'd been waiting for a _real_ swordfight for forever, and now she was going to prove—

Prove that she really was hopeless. _Come at me as if you intend to kill me_. That's what he'd said. But Karin couldn't do that, and when she hesitated – either because of the uncontrolled movements of her body, or because he was her friend – she paid the price: Benihime drew across her stomach in a cold rush, but the gash burned only a second later. Urahara-_san_ had withdrawn enough to ensure the slice was shallower than it could have been, but that didn't stop the bile rising in her throat as the fever reached her temples. She'd clapped her hands over her mouth for as long as she could and tried to get some distance between them...

But he just _kept following her. _She could tell he said her name each time he caught up to her, but only barely, because to her it sounded like he was talking into a pillow. She wanted desperately to push him away, but letting go of her face wasn't an option, and she was very dizzy. Finally, she'd had to release.

She didn't remember anything after that – she'd passed out. Tessai-_san_ had apparently used some kind of _kido_ magic to fix her stomach, and at some point someone had called her dad, because he was hovering over her when she woke up. But she didn't care about any of that – she'd thrown up in front of him. She felt sick even though her stomach had knitted back together, and as feverish as ever, though this time with embarrassment. She wanted to go home. She wanted it to be over.

And her dad had yelled at Urahara-_san_. She'd never seen him like he was that day, and Urahara-_san_ just stood there and took it. Karin felt awful for him, but when her dad picked her up to carry her home, she didn't struggle. She was so embarrassed!

So she decided that it could be over.

But just because her training had come to an end didn't mean she planned to give up on fighting to protect her family. Armed with her very own _zanpakuto_, she took her first trip out on patrol three days later, making Yuzu use on her the glove with the flaming skull on it that Urahara-_san_ had given her.

It wasn't long before she found one, and it seemed like a small-fry, but in the end, she couldn't handle even it. Stopping her training short had cost her, and the Hollow batted her away more than once as if she were a fly. It was only thanks to Yoruichi-_san_ that she wasn't beaten to a pulp. That's when she suggested it: _If you don't have the strength, then you have to become faster_, she'd said. It made sense; Yoruichi-_san_ was _very_ fast, and used no sword at all. But her dad had already forbade her from training at the _Shoten_ or accepting help from its residence...

So now she was here, sitting on a park bench in the middle of the night, Yoruichi-_san_ standing behind, waiting for...whatever was supposed to happen. A meeting or something?

"If this is going to work, you've gotta keep your surname to yourself," Yoruichi-_san_ warned. Karin didn't question her and nodded.

Twin sliding paper doors suddenly appeared a little while later, and through them came a tall, very handsome guy with black hair and a really nice white coat. At his hip was a sword whose hilt guard looked like an addition sign inside of a square, or maybe a window.

"Good to see you, Little Byakuya," Yoruichi-_san_ seemed to tease the man.

The guy barely acknowledged her and let his cold gaze fall straight down on Karin. "I assume this is her," he said. He looked severely unimpressed.

"Yes, Karin. She lives around here," Yoruichi-_san_ explained.

The man didn't care. "She's younger than I expected," he said. Then, he half-turned back to the still-opened doors to nowhere. "I refuse," he said simply.

"I thought Yamamoto already informed you of the situation. You wouldn't disobey a direct order from the Commander, right?" Yoruichi-_san_ asked, sounding sly.

"And I did not," the man came back at her. "I was merely ordered to meet with you and see her, but it is still my prerogative to decline training her. I will not babysit a child," he said curtly.

"She's not a child, she's sixteen," Yoruichi-_san_ defended.

"Nevertheless, it would be unbecoming of one such as myself to train an _illegal_," he said, spitting the last word like venom.

"Oh, so you're just going to ignore her because she's not on your level?" Yoruichi-_san _asked the man, but mischievously and without anger. "You're going to let your nobility stop you from even _bothering_ with a common girl?"

The man's dark eyes found Yoruchi-_san_'s, and he stared at her frighteningly. "I know what you're trying to do, and it will not work," he said dangerously.

"Then it must be that you're scared that you can't do as well as me," she said pompously.

"What are you talking about?" asked the man, maybe the least bit intrigued.

"Well, I _could_ train her, but of course, I'm the _Shunshin_. I don't doubt that I could have her running circles around you in one month's time," she boasted, though Karin only followed some of it. "Perhaps you've realized that, and you're backing out because you're afraid you'd just mess it up."

"I already gave you my reason," the man replied.

"Care to prove it?" Yoruichi-_san_ baited him. "Do you think you can have her catch me after one month?"

"Catch _you_?" the man repeated. "Are you suggesting a game of tag?" His monotone actually seemed to tilt slightly to the side of amusement.

"Just like back then, except this time, you can prove how great you are by making something of this girl here," Yoruichi-_san_ told him, clasping Karin's shoulders in her hands.

The man seemed to consider whatever it was they were talking about before he spoke. "Unfortunately, I am quite busy, and I don't have a month to spare on her..."

And then it seemed lost, until...

"But I will do it in two weeks."


	2. Chapter 2

To say that Byakuya's training style differed from Urahara-_san_'s was to point out the difference between a kitten and a tiger – he was a true taskmaster, a consummate slave-driver. And to say he was a complete asshole was to say the sky was blue.

At first he'd merely seemed uninterested in Karin, and mildly resentful of having to go through the motions of training her against his will. But his indifference was quick to morph into outright annoyance, and it showed whenever she arrived after school to train with him in the courtyard of his vast estate, where he could bother with her unseen by the rest of his Division, who were likewise entirely unseen by her. She couldn't help but get the distinct feeling that he was embarrassed to be seen with her, and she felt like some puppy off the street who'd followed him home, and he was allergic to dogs – maybe one had chewed up his favourite white coat or something – because he really seemed to detest her as a concept.

Where Urahara-_san_ was tough but encouraging and helpful, Byakuya was tough, but also mean and callous. He gave her no pointers past his initial instructions which had gone by far too quickly, and he refused to repeat them even once!

She remembered that Yoruichi-_san_ had suggested learning what she called _shunpo_ because Karin had strong legs, but as each day passed, she felt like she'd been grossly overestimated. She'd thought maybe _shunpo_ made it so that if you were really good, you'd basically be a blur to your opponent. But Byakuya just flickered out of existence altogether and reappeared somewhere else, like he was _teleporting_. Karin couldn't do that. She tried and tried and tried, but she couldn't. And who could expect her to?

Byakuya, apparently; but then again, maybe not. She really couldn't tell if he pushed her so hard because he believed in her, or because he wanted her to just give up like he already had on her. Probably the second one.

If she did something wrong – which was everything, it seemed – he merely glowered at her and told her to do it better without offering new instruction, occasionally spicing it up with veiled jabs at her abilities and insulting double-meanings. She thought she hated that most of all.

No, it was everything about him, because he was like that through and through. He looked nice – well, not _nice_, but he looked handsome...like, _really_ handsome. She hated to admit that he was the best-looking guy she'd ever seen, and he moved with such grace that she thought he could probably stride across water without disturbing it. _But_, that was just another double-meaning, because underneath he was the coldest guy she'd ever met, even worse than her brother had been the first couple of years after Rukia-_san_ left. And that had been pretty cold.

But she had to work past that, because she wasn't there to make him proud, and that was impossible anyway. She was there for Yuzu, to protect _her_. Urahara-_san_ had explained to her that Hollows would probably seek her out because of her powers, which meant that Yuzu might be around when they did. They shared a bedroom, after all.

And whenever she thought of a Hollow breaking into their bedroom, it came with drudged-up memories which clutched painfully at her chest, just as the first Hollow she'd ever encountered had done in her eleventh year. But those thoughts only lasted a short while, and were quickly replaced in a sickening wave by the memories of being crushed by a second Hollow later on, in the May of that year. Twice she'd been the collateral damage of her brother's own ability to attract Hollows, and twice she'd feared for her very life, sure she was going to die. Yuzu couldn't go through that – she _wouldn't_, and Karin would make sure of it.

It was just—_shunpo_ wasn't working. So maybe swordplay would?

* * *

Hadn't Yamamoto said the girl had been trained already by Urahara? If so, why was she so awful?

Her swings were broad and clumsy, her footing weak and her defence riddled with holes. If this was what Urahara passed on to those he trained, Byakuya dared not think what it said about the man's own prowess, or the danger Soul Society had likely been in with him as a Captain.

Byakuya did not even have to unsheathe his sword, let alone raise it. He sidestepped her with ease, and of course, his forearm could take a graze from the flimsy _zanpakuto_ without harm when he wanted, her _reiatsu_ was so lacking. He was starting to believe that he had been outright lied to about this girl, because whomever she was, it wasn't who everyone seemed to think. What had made her so special in the eyes of those fools? Were they really so desperate to bolster their ranks after the war that they'd recruit random kids off the streets of the Living World the moment they accidentally stumbled onto some spiritual power?

And worse yet, they'd allow their Captains to waste their valuable time proving that the Commander had made an error in judgement. What was the _Gotei _13 coming to?

Byakuya didn't have the time to think on that, not any he wanted to waste, anyway. So he unsheathed Senbonzakura, doing the _zanpakuto_ a great disservice at the same time. Clashing with a weak, novice blade such as this girl's was about as degrading to his sword as being forced to train her was to Byakuya. But this needed to be over, because they were making even less headway in this area than in _shunpo_ – and Byakuya was mildly surprised that such was possible. So he'd have Senbonzakura let her down for him, and hopefully she'd at least abandon the fool's quest of learning how to properly wield a sword.

If he was lucky, she'd give up altogether and return home; though having to spend the last forteen afternoons training her said little for his good fortune.

He didn't even swing Senbonzakura, just let him fall. And her sword went down with him to be pinned underneath, as easily as if he'd swatted a handkerchief from the air instead. But when he lifted his _zanpakuto_ once more and the two blades scraped together for a breath, he noticed something.

Her eyes. He noticed her eyes as they looked longingly up at him, glinting sad and scared together.

And next he noticed her _zanpakuto_'s tip, which had been brought centimetres from his face before he broke contact with those eyes. He hadn't even—

She held the sword to his face with all the confidence of someone gripping a venomous asp, as if terrified that the blade itself would lash out at her for deigning to raise it at Byakuya. Her eyebrows were knit together and her forehead creased in fear, and her small hands quivered.

Of course, the flaws in her style were not the surprising element of it all. Noticing them had become as natural to him as blinking. What rattled Byakuya – though not enough to show on his face, of course – was the fact that she'd somehow managed to get that far without him realizing. Not that he was in any danger even if she decided to follow through and plunge the sword at his face: the blade would break before his skin did at that point. But...

He couldn't be sure why, but he pushed her _zanpakuto_ aside using Senbonzakura's blade rather than just his hand.

_Clink._

And she was falling.

Hisana was falling.

Byakuya managed to catch her just before she hit the cobblestone, but the limpness of his wife's body in his hands terrified him so much that he nearly let her slip again. She was cold, too cold for a spring day, and her breathing was strangled. He wanted to grip her, hold her tighter and closer, thinking that maybe she'd snap out of it if she knew he was right there – but she felt so small, so frail, that he feared clutching to her might cause her to break and he'd lose her forever. His heavy, sickened breaths were all that reached his ears, and each inhale and exhale was like a tick in a countdown to him vomiting, because he felt so sick.

"Byakuya...

_I'm here, it's okay. It's going to be o—_

..._sensei..._"

Byakuya-_sensei_? Had he misheard?

A cool breeze danced across his cheek as Karin's wild eyes stared up into his, reminding him that it was not spring, but autumn, and the umpteenth September since that day...

That day when his wife fallen, and he _hadn't_ managed to catch her.

Then Karin's eyes rolled back and were white, and Byakuya remembered himself. He quickly pulled in his cascading _reiatsu_, pulling a desperate gasp out of her along with it. She choked on the air she swallowed and coughed before gulping in more – she'd been suffocating.

When had he lost hold of his _reiatsu_?

Byakuya stood, bringing the unconscious girl up with him in his arms. Her forehead glistened with sweat which wasn't the result of swordfighting, and she shivered bodily. She was not well.

And that was going to be trouble from the Commander if something wasn't done.


	3. Chapter 3

Karin awoke just in time to feel a cool, damp cloth be placed on her forehead, but didn't open her eyes. She could feel the beginnings of a headache behind them and feared the light would only make it worse. Luckily for her, the strength to lift her eyelids didn't seem to be with her anyway. She felt hopelessly fatigued, and worried she might not be able to get out of—

A bed? Was she in a bed? If she was, then that meant she was home again. She should have relaxed at that, but thoughts of her bed now went hand-in-hand with worries of a Hollow's home invasion. One could burst in while she was laying there all weak and helpless, and with her dad's powers still returning, that meant it would have every chance to make short work of Yuzu.

She was aware that her fist clenched, but didn't feel it, her fingertips were so numb. She wanted to sit up right then, but all feeling seemed to have been pulled from her body up into her now-throbbing head, because the rest of her was as numb and heavy as if she were dead. Maybe she was close. God, what had happened to her?

More importantly, what had happened to _Byakuya_?

She'd never seen his steely eyes go so wide before, not that _so wide_ for Byakuya was even wide for anyone else. Still, she'd seen his emotionless mask slip for a split second, as if he were scared of her, and it was the last thing she saw. Right after that, she'd felt something unseen slam into her and then seem to start squeezing the life out of her, choking off her breath as it constricted her entire chest. She'd only barely managed to squeak out his name to try and snap him out of his daze before everything went black.

_Yuzu_, she mouthed, her voice refusing to join her lips. She tried again. "Y...Yuzu..."

Well, it was whisper-quiet and raspy, but it was _something_.

"Please don't try to speak, Miss," came a voice that was definitely too old to be her sister's. She strained to open her eyes, and after her vision stopped swimming, found the voice's owner: an older-looking woman with an easy, many-lined smile, dressed in a white smock over some surprisingly expensive-looking clothes. Her grey-brown hair was done up in a tight bun, over which was draped a silken handkerchief, tied about her head like you did when you cleaned.

And this wasn't her room either. It was closer in size to her den at home...or maybe even the entire first floor. Her view of the expansive place was segmented by the posts that rose up from the ends of the bed to suspend the sagging silk canopy above her, and was completely hidden on one side by the bed's silky curtain, wafting in the breeze which eased in through the large, open window beside it. The older woman stood, hands folded, on the other side of the bed, which had its curtain pulled back.

"...Where am I?" Karin asked weakly.

"The Kuchiki estate, Miss," answered the woman cheerily but softly. "I'm glad to see you're awake, you were unconscious for quite a while."

Before Karin could ask how long she'd been out, she was cut off by an intense pang in her stomach which accompanied a rather embarrassing growl. She blushed, but the older woman grinned.

"I see your appetite hasn't left you," she said with a happy nod, "that's good news." With that, she left, Karin hoped, to get food. She'd never felt so hungry in her life, even after a soccer game. But she wasn't going to be _fed_ by that woman, so she rather painfully hauled herself up so that the pillow on which her head had rested now supported her back.

A while later, long enough for Karin to nearly nod off again while waiting, the woman returned, jarring her. She blinked heavily at the woman as she spoke. "Dinner is ready, Miss," she informed her.

"...Alright," said Karin hesitantly. Then the woman half-turned to splay her hand out at the open door behind her.

"It will be served in the dining hall. Please feel free to make your way down whenever you feel well enough," she said politely.

"Oh...I don't think..." Karin tried, but her legs failed her, "I can't walk," she admitted resignedly.

"Please take your time, Miss. There's plenty to go around," said the woman. When she caught Karin's rather desperate expression, she sighed somewhat sadly. "Unfortunately," she began compassionately, "Byakuya-_sama_ has forbade eating in bed. It is...improper," she repeated, though she said the last word without meaning it.

Karin huffed in exasperation. "Could you at least help me out of bed?" she pleaded. Again, the woman took on a forlorn look.

"Byakuya-_sama_ has told us that you must stand on your own. He said...that you should be able to walk by yourself."

He _did_, huh?

* * *

Byakuya had to admit, he was surprised when Karin came hobbling into the dining hall. He'd expected that maybe she'd simply resign and fall asleep once more. Just as well, rest would do her as much good as food at the moment, but it seemed she was very determined. Her eyes were very cold as she glared at him, and for once he thought he might understand what others felt when he looked upon _them_. And he was mildly amused at that...

No, no he wasn't. This girl was bothersome, not amusing.

"I see you're feeling better," he gave her, but she didn't respond. He gestured to a servant to begin bringing out the dinner courses, and together they ate in silence.

The girl was ravenous, though it was unsurprising.

When enveloped in a _reiatsu_ far beyond one's own, the soul naturally tried to fend it off by pushing against the oppressing force. But that meant squeezing out its own_ reiatsu_ to compete with the other, and though it ensured that one didn't get crushed under its power, it also drained the soul, and to a much greater extent if the opposing _reiatsu_ was of Captain-level. It greatly surprised Byakuya that hers had been enough to hold up against his for that amount of time, especially since her hours of training had already exhausted a fair amount of it beforehand.

Maybe there was something more to her than he'd first assumed. Strictly ability-wise, of course.

...No. He would only be lying if he denied that there was something _else_ in her. Something dangerous. Something which ensured that this would be her first and last meal in Soul Society.

Size was not a factor to a _Shinigami_ who was completely empty of _reiatsu_, and they would simply eat until it was replenished, even if the amount of food consumed could not logically fit in the stomach.

Such was certainly true for the girl, and she mostly ignored him in favour of food, though whenever their eyes did meet, she would slow and become a little pink. But her eyes never softened.

About an hour later, when the last of the plates had been cleared, Byakuya took his chance to finally speak. "I trust you've had your fill."

"...Sorry, _sensei_," she said meekly, drawing her shoulders up close to her face and planting her hands firmly in her lap, looking embarrassed. Where had all the anger gone? Why was she being like _that_? In a way that was almost—

"It would be best if you ceased coming to Soul Society," said Byakuya. That was becoming truer by the moment, at least to him.

Karin blinked at him, shocked. "What? But I'm not done training yet," she whined. It was, he was relieved to admit to himself, annoying.

"It is clear to me that you are not fit for life as a _Shinigami_. I shall inform the Commander of this assessment, and you shall be freed of any future obligations to Soul Society," he explained, he thought, very clearly. There should have been no problem.

But of course, there was.

"That's not fair!" she yelled. Her vigour had obviously returned with the intake of food. "I'm sorry I imposed on you, but...but I..."

_This_ was precisely why she needed to leave, now. Not because of the incident earlier, which had been entirely his fault, and had in fact revealed to him her _reiatsu_'s potency; and it was of no consequence to let her use his sister's room when she barely did so herself anymore, let alone share his food, of which there was always too much, especially since Rukia came around far less often. No, the very reason she had to leave was the way she begged to stay, with a hurt in her eyes that threatened to infect even Byakuya himself.

A dangerous thing, indeed.

"Enough," he said to stop her stammering. "I have made my decision. You shall leave tonight and not return. This is not the life for you."

"Did I...do something wrong?" she asked, staring down at her lap, sounding profoundly sad.

"On the contrary," came Byakuya later than he'd intended, after he'd regained the power to speak, "the mistake was mine. I should never have accepted to train you."

The pain in Karin's glistening eyes might have hit the common man hard enough to sway him, but Byakuya steeled himself, as was usual in those situations.

"Let us go," he said.

* * *

It felt great to stretch his legs again, Kon thought, even if they weren't strictly _his_ legs.

He happily lapped up his strawberry ice cream from the cone as the arm which held the bag with the adult magazine inside swung back and forth with his excitement. He had to admit, there were perks to Ichigo being engaged to _Neesan_, because he'd needed Kon in his body more and more often. But he still resented the reason.

He took note of how low the sun had gotten as he realized where he'd strolled to. He would have to run all the way back to Ichigo's university quite fast to make his deadline, but that was no problem for legs like his. So he guessed he could afford to linger a little longer before turning back.

His lingering brought him to the Urahara _Shoten_, where he felt he hadn't been in ages. He took in the place with a sense of nostalgia. It was exactly the same as he remembered. So of course, he realized when it suddenly became glaringly different.

Those paper doors definitely hadn't been there before, not in the middle of the grounds.

They parted to let a small _Shinigami _with black hair pass through.

"_Neesa—_"

_Oh. Not _Neesan.

"Karin...?"

Ichigo's sister knocked into Kon hard enough to force the breath from his lungs and send his ice cream to splatter on the ground. He didn't think she knew exactly whose chest she was sobbing into, but he figured he'd better put his now-free arm around her anyway.

But then her breath hitched. "...Ichigo?" she asked into his chest as if unsure. Smart kid.

"...No," answered Kon, unsure of what else to do. He started to release his hold on her, sure that she would want away from the imposter, but she instead shoved herself deeper into his chest and sobbed with renewed intensity. He replaced his arm.

"You...you're Kon-_san_...then?" she hiccoughed past her tears.

What?

"Uh...yeah." When had she—?

"Urahara-_san_ told me before," she explained, sounding weak.

"I thought—didn't you have soccer practice?" Kon asked, feeling very dumb as he did. Clearly it had been some sort of lie, but it was one Ichigo and his dad both seemed to believe. She shook her head into his chest.

"I was...training...but I...I couldn't do it," she sobbed.

Kon held her at arm's length, then turned around and crouched. "Get on," he said, holding his arms palm-up behind him.

"What?" he heard her ask.

"I'm taking you home. Get on," he repeated.

"I can..." she began to protest before seeming to realize the exhaustion that Kon had sensed in her. Whatever had happened in Soul Society had drained her, both physically and emotionally. After a moment, she complied, and he hiked her up on his back as he stood so she could drape her arms over his shoulders.

"Thanks," she said tiredly as Kon started for Isshin's house. He wouldn't be surprised if she fell asleep on the way, but that was okay.

"Don't worry about it," he told her. For a long while she was quiet, and he was sure she'd dozed off, until she piped up again.

"Were you really Bostov?" she asked, and Kon's ears twitched at the name, growing hot and probably red.

"...Yeah..."

She chuckled. A little bit later, she asked, "What's in the bag?"

Kon blushed furiously. "It's nothing, don't worry about it."

"But—"

"Just try to go to sleep," he said in a calming tone. She really needed sleep.

He thought she was going to argue, or continue questioning him, but not a minute later, her rhythmic breathing was tickling his ear.


	4. Chapter 4

"Captain Hirako?" said Byakuya inquisitively, having finally tracked the man down. He'd rather optimistically assumed that Shinji would be in his own Division barracks, perhaps working on some overdue paperwork, but of course he'd found him in the barracks of the Third Division, sharing a drink with Captain Otoribashi.

"Hey there, Byakuya," he said through his permanent grin, lowering the _sake_ cup from his lips.

"I've asked you to address me as Kuchiki-_san_, at least," Byakuya reminded him sternly. He knew asking for _Captain Kuchiki_ would be too much, and the level of familiarity with which Captain Hirako currently addressed him was irksome.

Captain Hirako poured himself another glass of _sake_ as he spoke without looking at Byakuya. "If we wanted to get technical, I guess the right thing to do would be to call you Byakuya-_kun_, right?" he asked, though Byakuya knew he'd only accept the wrong answer. "After all," he continued after taking his sip, "you're quite a bit younger than me, y'know."

That reminded Byakuya of why he'd sought the man out in the first place, and he resolved not to lose himself in semantics.

"I've come to ask you about Karin," Byakuya said seriously. Then he shot Captain Otoribashi a look which he hoped would leave him alone with Hirako. Instead, Otoribashi picked up the _sake_ bottle, Byakuya thought, to pour himself another glass.

But instead he shook it.

The man tutted. "You glutton, Shinji," he sighed, more disappointed than angry. "I'll get us a new bottle, but don't chug this one," he warned, and left, though not before firing a conspiratorial glance Byakuya's way.

"_Tch_, cheapskate," Hirako griped to himself.

"Captain Hirako," Byakuya called to bring the possibly-half-drunk man back on track.

"Well, spit it out, then," came Shinji suddenly, quicker than Byakuya had expected. He seemed impatient, but that was likely because he was waiting on more alcohol.

"Karin...does she happen to have any siblings?" Byakuya asked, as aloofly as he'd ever managed. Captain Hirako looked momentarily surprised, before his face relaxed back into a toothy grin, though of a different kind than earlier.

"In fact, she does," he said slyly, "I hear she has a twin sister."

His answer received, Byakuya turned to leave, only to be cut off by Captain Hirako when the man appeared before him. For being half-drunk, the man's _shunpo_ was in excellent form.

"Yes?" Byakuya asked, wanting very much to leave.

"You don't think I didn't notice did you?" he asked. "That Karin-_chan_'s _reiryoku_ hasn't popped up in a month..."

"That is none of your concern," Byakuya stated, but when he tried to sweep past Hirako, the man mirrored his maneuver so as to keep them face-to-face. This was quickly getting bothersome.

"Actually, it is, 'cause I was one of the guys who voted to bring her in," Hirako explained. Byakuya had suspected as much, considering the man's record for poor decision-making.

"And burdened _me_ with her, at that," Byakuya retorted.

"Hey, you didn't have to say _yes_," Hirako pointed out. Byakuya had no solid argument against his pride, which, having gotten the best of him for only a moment, had led to his training the girl in the first place. The demon-cat would have to answer for that some day soon.

"If you must know, I am in fact on my way to retrieve her, so if you'll excuse me..." Byakuya admitted, but Hirako again cut him off before he could leave.

"I don't care about that," he said, his grin finally melting away, revealing a seriousness behind it that Byakuya had thought impossible for the man. "I wanna know why she has to be retrieved in the first place," he pressed.

"I had...misjudged her," Byakuya told Hirako, which, after a tense moment, brought his smile rushing back. The man stepped aside, and Byakuya took his leave by way of _shunpo_, just in case Hirako got it in his head to block him again.

Byakuya hadn't lied, but he had rationed the truth. Hirako did not need to know in what way Byakuya had misjudged the girl – nobody did. It was none of his business that Byakuya had spent weeks after sending Karin away sleeplessly battling with himself, asking what of his late wife he could _possibly_ see in that _girl_. He had grown quite worried with himself by the time a fortnight had passed, when Renji had requested that they duel one-on-one.

Since the war, Renji had become notably more diligent in his training, and often challenged Byakuya to sparring matches, pitting his _shikai_ against Byakuya's _bankai_. Though he always lost, he did so more slowly each time, and even Byakuya had to acknowledge the jump in _reiryoku_ his vice-Captain had achieved over the years.

_Your zanpakuto betrays your weak resolve. _The words had left Byakuya's mouth without a thought in the heat of battle, but seemed to swing back around to slam into his chest a second later. In his shock, he'd nearly lost to Renji, but managed to claim victory despite being brought to one knee. After his vice-Captain had thanked him, rather begrudgingly, and left, Byakuya took some time to ponder his words, and what had brought them on.

Of course. It was natural in combat to be able to read your opponent's feelings when your blades connected, but it was that naturalness which had blinded Byakuya to the truth. It was especially true of _Shinigami_ who did not yet know the name of their _zanpakuto_, because without the freedom to speak and be heard, they could only cry, sending raw feelings pouring out to be caught by their opponent's swinging blades. He'd heard such crying from Zaraki's own sword numerous times.

And he knew now what the cries had said.

* * *

Byakuya had actually assumed that exiting the _Senkaimon_ just outside of Kisuke Urahara's shop would mean he'd still have to track Karin down by sensing her _reiatsu_, but he could already feel the ebb and flow of it as she clashed with an average-feeling Hollow some distance away.

In one step he was there, and watched as she relentlessly came at the boar-masked beast, always clipping it as it rushed past, but failing to deal the finishing blow to its mask. But every time they sprang apart, she'd spin right around on her heel and charge again, causing the previous clash to be seemingly played out in reverse.

On and on like that it went, with neither opponent gaining a definitive upper-hand. That might have disappointed Byakuya, had he not been so consumed by relief at decidedly _not_ being in love with his former student.

Then it happened: the boar-thing rushed Karin once more, but as she mirrored it, it suddenly wheeled about on its four legs, sending its long tail to lash out like an angry snake. Karin slid on her heels as she tried desperately to change course in time. It seemed as though she wouldn't, and for some reason – probably on principle of being her mentor – Byakuya had been about to step in, when suddenly she bent her legs and—

The tail cut harmlessly through the air, its target having flickered, for the shortest of moments, out of its path. Karin had used _shunpo_. It was very rough, very short, and undeniably clumsy, of course, but it was indeed _shunpo_.

But Karin's small feat amazed her far too much. She merely stood frozen before the beast, as if afraid her legs would do something of their own accord again if she moved them. Her grip on her _zanpakuto_ was loose in her astonishment, and Byakuya could already see it wheeling through the air when the charging beast crashed into the small _Shinigami_.

And it was that image that made him move. Before he realized it, he'd brought Senbonzakura through the Hollow's entire body, so that its rounded back and the top half of its head came off together like the lifted lid of a teapot, before both halves dissolved into thin air. It didn't even roar, and Byakuya doubted it had known what had happened before it disappeared.

He turned to Karin. "I have reconsidered," he said simply. "I shall resume your training."

Rather than rejoice as he'd half-expected, or obediently follow him to the waiting _Senkaimon _as she'd done fourteen times before, Karin screamed and rushed at Byakuya, sword raised, as if he was simply another Hollow that had appeared.

Senbonzakura met her sword with a harsh metallic ring, and in that moment Byakuya felt it, knowing it now for what it was: Karin's resolve – to make sure her sister was okay. _That_ was what had reminded him of Hisana, what the two women had in common – the _only_ thing they shared. And Byakuya couldn't stop his lips curling up into a grin as the feeling washed over him, because it now had a name, and not the one he'd feared. That was what she was fighting for...

And it was why she was crying.

Byakuya immediately let Senbonzakura drop to his side and grasped the blade of Karin's _zanpakuto_, yanking it out of her hands and stopping the duel dead.

He hadn't thought of how she would react – he hadn't even thought of why he'd decided to end it that way – but when she collapsed to her knees and started to sob, he felt sorely unprepared. He could think of nothing else to do but hand the _zanpakuto_ back to her, assuming she felt ashamed at losing it. But she simply batted it away and continued to cry.

This was becoming more trouble than it was worth.

"The _Senkaimon_ is ready. If you wish to continue your training, stand up and come with me," Byakuya commanded, unceremoniously dropping her sword beside her before standing and turning.

"Why did you help me?" he heard her weak voice issue from behind him. "I didn't need your help," she said, stronger that time. But her voice still shook like it wanted to cry.

"I didn't help you, I simply removed something that was in the way of informing you of my decision," he clarified, because apparently he was required to.

"Whatever," she spat. "I don't want help from someone like _you_."

"I am not asking you to get along with me, I'm only informing you of my willingness to continue with your training. It is up to you to accept or not, I have no stake in it myself," Byakuya explained. He started walking.

He was far enough along that he assumed he'd be returning without her, but then she called to him. "Will you kick me out again?"

He turned at that and meant to call back, but by the time he was facing her, she was already only feet away and panting lightly. "Excuse me?" he said quietly.

"If I do something wrong you can't kick me out again, right? Because _you're_ asking me to come back, so kicking me out is off-limits this time," she explained to him quite sternly.

Byakuya thought to repeat himself: _I am not asking you to come back, only informing you that you may_. Instead, he said, "Understood."

Karin nodded. "Then let's go..._Sensei_."


	5. Chapter 5

Byakuya's guarantee not to dismiss Karin again had started out as insurance, but now it was more like a prison sentence. The man was colder to her than ever before, but never so much as when they duelled with their _zanpakuto_. She could feel that he hated it most of all, and seemed to walk a razor's edge as they did, as if unsure of what to do with himself: his strokes were passive and his parries lazy, like he was going out of his way not to hurt her, but his gaze seemed to work at the opposite, boring into her with an icy intensity that almost stung to behold.

What was worse, she wasn't able to redo the _shunpo_ she'd managed while fighting the Hollow, no matter how much she tried or how harshly he commanded. And every time it failed to happen, she could sense what he felt: that his guarantee to her had left them chained to one another – like he was a man lost at sea, and she the weight around his ankle dragging him down. They both quickly grew to hate their new circumstances, she could tell, but neither would be the one to break first, either. So every day she went home dreading the next day, and thought of nothing else until it came around. What excuse had she even given her dad?

For a couple of weeks it went on like that, with her seeming to float uselessly in a sea of unspoken resentment, unable to swim against the current, to even perform the simplest act of _shunpo_ to maybe soften his glare just a bit.

And it hurt a lot, because ever since he'd dismissed her, all she'd thought about had been him, and what she could have done differently to impress him, to gain his respect, to prove that she could do it.

The "Kurosaki fighting spirit", as her dad called it, was like this scrappy, plucky little animal inside that refused to give up, and kept coming even when the odds were stacked against it, igniting a fire in her stomach that didn't dim even in the face of such a cold presence as Byakuya's. But that resolve also meant that the Kurosaki were hopelessly ill-equipped to handle personal failure, and when they disappointed themselves, the animal inside bit back hard. And it _hurt_.

And each time she disappointed him, and each time she was scathingly told as much, the pain inside of her doubled up, until eventually she just wanted to scream it out. She wanted to scream at him, tell him that he needed to ease up, that she was doing her best, that she didn't understand what was going wrong. She wanted to cry. And by the end of week two of their resumed training sessions, she was almost desperate enough to do it in front of him, hoping against all she knew about him that it would strike some wellspring of human decency inside of him and maybe make him _stop_.

But when the day finally came, she didn't. Instead, her intense hurt seemed only to stoke the fire inside her, turning suddenly to seething anger. And it ate up every insult and condescending look fired at her that day, until finally it was too much to contain and she exploded with it.

The distance between her and Byakuya went from roughly ten feet to nothing in what felt like a single step—

And she slapped him hard across the face. And the _crack_ of it ripping through the air was like the birds singing in the springtime, and his shocked expression far outdid any present she'd ever received on New Year's. And it felt _amazing_...for a moment. Then, everything turned to darkness.

* * *

Byakuya often found that it was helpful to seek council with Senbonzakura on matters he couldn't seem to wrap his head around. Having the perspective of an outside observer, the spirit's clarity usually ensured that he offered sound advice which seemed to penetrate right to the heart of the matter.

Except today. Today he was being completely unreasonable.

Byakuya still couldn't see why Karin had overreacted the way she had.

He sensed in her the same drive that had defined him in his childhood days, training tirelessly at this very estate. He knew well what that drive was capable of. Racing around the grounds with the insufferable Yoruichi would have been impossible without it, but it wasn't, and that meant that it could do the same for her as for him. That was why he pushed her, to try and replicate her use _shunpo_ from before, assuming that drive to succeed would make it happen.

But Senbonzakura begged to differ. Except he was being utterly foolish.

What sane person would make someone hate them on purpose? It was ridiculous.

Byakuya held no illusions about himself, he knew he was disliked by some – Ichigo Kurosaki was a good example. Mutual, too. But that was Kurosaki's own decision, not something Byakuya had worked toward, he knew. That was the crux of it: if he was striving to earn a person's resentment, he'd know it. He'd know it because he'd have a valid reason for doing so, as was his way with everything. And there was no reason to want his pupil to hate him, or to keep her at arm's length. It just wasn't conducive to training.

_I was not being especially cold to her_, he thought at his sword. _There is no reason for me to treat her differently than any other trainee_...

But Senbonzakura's foolishness knew no bounds today.

_Because I was merely being reminded of Hisana_, he responded to his _zanpakuto_, not that the spirit's words deserved it. _I love Hisana, and they are nothing alike_.

Senbonzakura's next words made Byakuya's decision for him: this _Jinzen_ session was over. It would do him no good for his _zanpakuto_ to go planting wild thoughts in his head. He'd had a hard enough time sleeping in the weeks before Karin returned, he didn't need any doubt cast on his sureness now.

But as he looked up from the _zanpakuto_ resting across his lap, he caught site of her sleeping face in Rukia's bed. And he sheathed his sword so that he might ignore it, before it asked another needless question, like why he was sitting there with her instead of leaving her care to a maid, as before. Byakuya didn't need to answer anything like that.

Not that he couldn't, mind, he just didn't need to.

But, if he _had_ to guess, he'd say it was likely because he felt some degree of sympathy for her, as someone trying and failing to protect their sibling. It reminded him of his own predicament during Ichigo Kurosaki's break-in of _Seireitei_.

And that was it. Only sympathy. Because they were too different, she and her. No matter what Senbonzakura rashly assumed, Byakuya loved his wife, he loved what _his wife_ had been like, and nothing else, nothing different. There was a reason he'd only fallen in love once: because Hisana had been perfect, and anything not in line with who she had been was less than that.

As for Karin, Karin was _far_ less, he told himself. She was brash, stubborn, mouthy at times; she was ungraceful, she complained too much, and of course, she'd _slapped him in the face._ Who could love anybody like that? She was too much of a...

_A handful_, Byakuya decided, for he'd been about to use _challenge_ instead.

Karin rustled, pulling Byakuya out of his head. Then her eyes fluttered and she must have spotted him sitting there, because once she'd blinked them wide open a couple of times, she went pink and pulled the blankets up so that they covered her nose. He couldn't tell if it was to protect herself from him or the other way around.

He stood. "I suppose you'll want to eat something," he droned. "You collapsed because your _reiryoku_ could not withstand the training..."

When Karin's eyebrows knitted together as if she were angry, Byakuya continued so as to cut off any chance for her to retort like the child she was.

"However, since I've already given you my word not to end your training again, I suppose the only thing there is to do is to ensure that you don't die on my watch," he explained. "It would look unbecoming," he finished, and turned toward the door. "I trust you remember where the dining hall is."

And with that, he left her.

* * *

Karin just laid there, content to stew cross-armed under her blanket, pulled over and behind her head so that it held taut just above her nose. It was getting warm in there, either from her own body heat or her still-smouldering anger – perhaps a little of both – but she refused to come out. Byakuya could eat dinner alone, for all she cared, and she would just ignore the aches of hunger in her stomach until she had enough energy to stand and go home.

She wasn't sure how long she'd been under there before she heard the door to the bedroom creak. Sure it was Byakuya, she rolled over, making a cocoon of her tent, and drew her knees to her chest.

"Excuse me, Miss," came a familiar voice. Karin rolled herself out of the blankets to find the older woman in the smock from her last visit, smiling at her with all the warmth Byakuya lacked.

Then Karin folded her arms in front of her chest. "You can tell him I'm going home as soon as I can get up, okay?" she pouted.

"I apologize, Miss," came the woman, "but I'm not here as a messenger." She sounded worried.

"Is something the matter?" Karin asked the woman genuinely. There was no reason to ration her anger at Byakuya amongst his workers.

"Actually, I'm concerned about Byakuya-_sama_," she said, casting a sidelong glance at the ajar door. "He needs his strength, but I'm afraid he won't eat."

"Maybe he's not hungry," Karin suggested, trying to sound as if she cared about him for the lady's sake. It was tough.

The woman shook her head solemnly. "Actually, Miss, I was wondering when you were planning on joining him in the dining hall," she said suddenly.

"Didn't you hear?" Karin said a little too harshly, and winced. "I'm going home once I can get up," she finished more softly.

At that, the woman turned to leave, Karin thought, but instead, she shut the door and came to sit on the chair Byakuya had left beside the bed.

"Please, Miss," she said with an imploring look, "if you don't come down, I fear Byakuya-_sama_ will go hungry tonight."

What was she talking about?

"But he can just tell the cooks to start making the food without me, right?" Karin asked, curious.

"It isn't the cooks, Miss, it's Byakuya-_sama_ himself," she said, taking one of Karin's hands up in hers. They were somewhere between rough and soft – the hands of a working woman, but well-tended. "Did you not notice during your last visit, that Byakuya-_sama_ had the courses brought out only after you'd arrived?"

Karin thought about it, because she hadn't before, and realized the woman was right. But...

"But I didn't even know if I was going to be able to make it down there," Karin said, remembering her weakened legs, like boiled noodles.

"Nor did Byakuya-_sama_, I suspect. But it's likely that he simply didn't want to eat alone," said the woman, sounding forlorn. "You see," she continued, "like you, Byakuya-_sama_has a sister, but the young mistress is no longer around, I'm afraid..."

Karin's scalp tightened. "Is she...?"

"Oh no, she's very well. In fact, she's a vice-Captain," the woman corrected, and Karin felt very relieved. She wasn't at all surprised that someone related to Byakuya held such a high rank in the same organization as him. All that family pride, annoying as it was, didn't seem unfounded.

"So what happened?" Karin asked, refraining from adding the _Did she get sick of Byakuya too?_ that finished her thought.

"As I understand, she was seduced and taken away by some kind of ruffian," said the woman, seeming mildly confused as she did.

"Oh, that's...I'm sorry," said Karin, for nothing else came to mind.

The woman shook her head. "I think she's happy...It's Byakuya-_sama_that—" she paused, seeming to collect her thoughts. "He seems rather lonely without her. He was very fond of her, you see."

Though it seemed natural to be fond of your family, somehow it still surprised Karin to hear that Byakuya managed it.

"But he eats just fine when I'm not here, right? This is only the second time I've been in this place," Karin pointed out.

The woman's easy smile returned. "To be honest, I think he enjoys your company," she said.

"That's not true!" came Karin immediately, causing the woman to squint at the volume. "He's a jerk! He hates me!"

"Is that so?" came the woman, surprisingly slyly. "You think someone who hates you would personally carry you up to this room and lay you here?" she asked, and Karin felt herself become very warm, and not just in the face. "Would he sit beside you until you awoke if he hated you? Or sit at the dinner table just to starve himself?"

"I dunno," Karin said quietly, turning away from the woman, "maybe..."

"I think, perhaps, that he feels bad about whatever happened between you two," the woman put forth, causing Karin to scoff before she could stop herself.

"You're wrong about that," she said knowingly.

There was a pensive pause before the woman spoke again. "Byakuya-_sama_ is...not well-versed in apology," she said, allowing herself a bemused grin. "Even if you did join him, I doubt he'd say he was sorry, but..."

"Fine," Karin interrupted. She still didn't believe it, but hearing about it was annoying. "I'll go, but only because I'm _really_ hungry," she admitted. The woman smiled broadly.

"Thank you," she said._  
_


	6. Chapter 6

Byakuya lowered his _zanpakuto_ upon realizing that the _Adjuchas _before him was frozen in place, caught in the air like a fly in amber. This had always been the part of owning a _zanpakuto _that he disliked the most: their ability to stop everything you were doing just so they could have their say. _Entitled interference_, he called it. And though he disliked it on the grounds of it being disruptive and presumptuous of the _zanpakuto_, he hated mostly what it meant: it was the boss calling you into his office to reprimand you.

Senbonzakura's office – Byakuya's Inner World – took the form of an endless grove of _sakura_ trees, neatly arranged in files and ranks, as orderly as pieces on a _shogi_ board. Cutting through the grove was a single narrow pathway of pristine, white, interlocking flagstones which sparkled in the perpetual moonlight like a blanket of freshly fallen snow. The sky above was that of a clear night devoid of stars, the vast expanse interrupted only by the lonely moon, which today was full, though its state changed with his mood.

Byakuya immediately made his way, as he had a hundred times before, to the only tree which stood apart from the sea of light pink, for its blossoms were perfectly white. It stood in place of any other normal tree that might have been there were it not, intermingled, rather than in a spot reserved only for itself; but Byakuya could always find it. And he placed his hand gently on its trunk, which was smooth, and warm like a living person – a tragic irony, as the person responsible for its existence in the grove was gone.

Hisana's tree.

"Surprised to see it standing?" came Senbonzakura's sourceless voice, seeming to echo from behind a hundred trees at once.

"The way you spoke, I assumed..." but Byakuya paused, unable to finish the thought, let alone its sentence.

"You still don't understand, do you?" came the disappointed voice, which Byakuya was already tired of. If he was going to be reprimanded, he'd much rather have it done to his face.

So he pulled his hand away from the tree and began to make his way down the long stone path, at the end of which Senbonzakura would be waiting, he knew. As he did, he felt like the mallet being drawn across a xylophone; and if he was the mallet, then the trees were the bars, and Senbonzakura's voice the music: for it followed in his wake, always keeping pace, every word seeming to emanate from behind the tree directly beside Byakuya, no matter how briskly he strode. It alternated between left and right sporadically, lending to itself a ubiquity that Byakuya found unsettling, but was also used to.

"I suppose you've discerned why I brought you here," came Senbonzakura's voice in his self-righteous tone.

"Clearly, you believe you have something worth it for me to hear," Byakuya answered as he walked, adding, "though I'd disagree" a little quieter. He knew the spirit would hear him regardless.

"That's exactly the point," came the voice frustratedly, so that it seemed to shake the trees it rang out from as he passed them, and their petals quivered. "Why do you think you're having such trouble defeating this Hollow?" he asked.

"I am not the one having trouble," Byakuya corrected. "Your reaction time is slow. It's as simple as that."

Again, the petals shook, like a harsh wind had filtered through them in Byakuya's wake, though they did so now in silence.

"I am not one to be ignored, Byakuya Kuchiki," came Senbonzakura pompously, seeming riled. "You've refused to talk to me for over a month. Did you honestly expect me to fight alongside you with any resolve?"

The question instantly brought an answer to Byakuya's mind, which he refrained from speaking out of habit, but it was no use – Senbonzakura would already know it anyway:

_I expected you to put your pride aside and protect her._

"Ah..." echoed the voice, suddenly smug. "So I was right."

"No such thing," Byakuya snapped back. "She is my pupil, it is my responsibility to ensure her continued existence for the sake of upholding the Commander's decision. Therefore, it is also your responsibility," he explained formally.

"Trying to sound like the man you were six years ago won't change my mind, you know," Senbonzakura pointed out.

_That_ was the whole reason Byakuya had been dragged here, why he'd started shutting out Senbonzakura's opinions. And it was still unreasonable, and it was still utterly wrong.

"I have not changed, no matter what you say to the contrary," Byakuya came back. "I am the same as I have always been. I am still the man I was when I married Hisana."

"_The same as you've always been_?" Senbonzakura parroted in disbelief. "Do you remember when we first met?" he asked.

Of course. Byakuya had still been young, enough so that the spirit had towered head-and-shoulders above him. Back then, Senbonzakura had this annoying and insolent habit of poking Byakuya hard in the forehead whenever he thought the boy did something childish, which was often.

"I do," Byakuya affirmed, as if Senbonzakura didn't already know the memories his mind had found.

"I distinctly remember a mouthy, short-tempered little brat who would let something as simple as a poke to the forehead set him off," said Senbonzakura, much to Byakuya's chagrin. "And that boy was not the man who married Hisana. The difference was night and day."

That, Byakuya had to admit, was true. Under his grandfather's guidance and his own staunch force of will, Byakuya had managed to make a better man of himself than he had been a boy. He knew it was true, because he'd been quite proud of the accomplishment – he'd felt like he'd finally become a Kuchiki his grandfather could be proud of.

"And your point?" Byakuya asked.

"I'm saying that people change," Senbonzakura urged. "Before Ichigo Kurosaki came along, you were quite a dispassionate sort of man. But something changed in you following his intrusion into _Seireitei_. You noticed, didn't you? How, before, you fought to ensure your own sister's execution, only to risk death at the point of Ichimaru's sword a short while later."

"That had nothing to do with Kurosaki," Byakuya stated. He heard a sigh whisper through the trees. He noted that they were becoming more and more sparsely covered in blossoms as he approached Senbonzakura proper, with petals littering the ground beneath. He knew that meant they had been shedding their leaves, which of course meant trouble.

There were no seasons here, just as there was no transition from night to day, and the trees stayed perpetually in bloom, save for when Byakuya was sad, or anguished...or ignored his _zanpakuto_. And Senbonzakura, who seemed to have a bit of gardener in him, hated when his trees were defaced like that more than anything. By the time Senbonzakura finally spoke again, Byakuya was walking in a forest of bare trees, as if in late autumn.

"That is not the point," came Senbonzakura's exasperated tone.

"Then I advise you to reach it before my patience completely runs out," Byakuya called, but not to the trees.

He'd reached Senbonzakura's palace, which was a large, rounded gazebo-like structure made of something sturdy, seemingly alabaster. Under its high-arched roof was a perfectly circular courtyard, in the heart of which was a beautiful, tight arrangement of _sakura_ which never shed despite Byakuya's mood. Housed in the centre of the arrangement, with the interlocking branches of each _sakura_ forming a pink canopy with their blossoms to be his roof, sat Senbonzakura on a perfectly-cut stump, which had never been a tree, but always a place for him to sit.

He was a rather handsome young man, with a face that might have been much like Byakuya's own, had it not such fair skin, or eyes that shone the colour of the surrounding _sakura_, or lacked any eyebrows. His long, white hair would have fallen halfway down his back were its end not folded up to meet its middle, clasped in place just behind his neck by an ornamental hairpiece secured laterally with a gold pin. The effect was to create a loop of hair that hung from the clasp, which if viewed from Senbonzakura's side resembled a teardrop shape.

His clothing also resembled Byakuya's, with of a black _kosode _and _hakama_, but differed in that the uderlying _shitagi_, as well as the sash at his waist, were pink like his eyes. Like Rukia's, Senbonzakura's sleeves came only to his elbows. In place of Byakuya's _haori_, Senbonzakura wore a white _kataginu_ with pink lining and the Kuchiki family crest emblazoned on each breast, making his outfit less the _shihakusho_ of a _Shinigami_ and more the _kamishimo_ of a Tokugawa-era nobleman. In stark contrast to his formality of dress, the spirit was, as always, without footwear of any kind, something Byakuya found uncouth to this day.

Senbonzakura, smirking, stood and strode gracefully over to Byakuya.

"My point is," he continued from before, "that you've become altogether different from the man who married Hisana. You're a more passionate man than before, so it is no surprise that your tastes would change accordingly," he said, all sureness.

"I fail to see why this is so imperative to you, but sadly, you're mistaken. You're talking about Karin, who is nothing like my wife," Byakuya told him. He had to put an end to this.

Then Senbonzakura did something he hadn't in ages: he poked Byakuya hard in the forehead.

"Don't be naive," he said past Byakuya's rising anger. "That's precisely what I'm saying," he continued, and started walking. Reluctantly, Byakuya followed, being led back out of the palace and into the grove. "Perhaps what you _want_ is a brash, mouthy, ungraceful, complaining challenge." He stopped only a short ways from the palace, where the trees were still bare.

"And why would I want such a thing?" Byakuya humoured. "Something so unlike—"

Senbonzakura didn't let him finish. "Unlike Hisana, yes," he agreed, "but very like _you_." When he caught Byakuya's befuddlement, he met it with a smirk before going on. "All those things are what makes Karin a passionate person, much like you are now. Hisana was soft-spoken, polite, very proper, all the things you used to be..."

"I still am," Byakuya defended swiftly. "And are you implying that I am self-obsessed?" he asked incredulously.

"There are two reasons any one person is attracted to any other: either they see something in that person that they admire because the lack it in themselves, or they see things that reminds them of what they admire within themselves," explained the spirit, after which he clasped Byakuya's shoulder. It made him uncomfortable. "I'm merely suggesting that you're the kind of person in the second category."

Byakuya shrugged out of the hold. "And what proof do you have of this?" Byakuya asked. If _he_ had spent all that time fretting about it before, how had Senbonzakura become so sure?

"You're looking at it," said the spirit. And he stepped aside.

Byakuya was faced with yet another bare tree. It was quite a bit smaller and thinner – newer – than the rest, but he didn't—

Wait, where were the petals under it? Each tree which had shed its petals had them collected in a circle at the base of the trunk, but the ground beneath this tree was clean.

Byakuya took a step closer, and then he saw it: this tree wasn't bare at all, its branches were covered with unopened buds, as expected for a new tree. He whipped about to face Senbonzakura, who was grinning like a fool.

"This is your proof?" he asked, severely unimpressed. "This is nothing." It was true, because new trees grew in this place all the time, with every new experience in Byakuya's life.

The long sigh Senbonzakura let out seemed to blow away Byakuya's Inner World, save for the new tree, leaving them standing together in Karakura, in the frozen midst of the _Adjuchas_ attack. Byakuya could look upon his still self, bleeding from the forehead, his sword's empty hilt readied against the Hollow despite it having knocked him on his back. He could also look upon Karin, who looked utterly terrified a little ways behind, where he'd swept her earlier.

He remembered that this was no random attack: it was planned. He wasn't sure he believed the rumours of a new queen of Hueco Mundo, but if they _were_ true, then she was certainly using this _Adjuchas_ in an attempt to remove Karin as a threat. The girl was spilling over with untapped potential, and unlocking more each day. The only reason for an _Adjuchas_ to suddenly enter Karakura like this would be to put an end to that.

Before he knew it, he'd walked over to Karin's motionless form, only realizing after he finally blinked. She looked scared, of course, but something else glinted in her eyes, behind the fear. Something Byakuya couldn't quite place.

And she wasn't watching the Hollow.

She looked so...

Senbonzakura's single chuckle caused Byakuya to wheel around, expecting to find his _zanpakuto_ spirit hitting him with yet another smirk. But Senbonzakura was looking instead at the tree he'd brought with them, standing out-of-place in the middle of the road where the battle was playing out.

A bud had opened up. And it was blooming perfectly white.

Suddenly, they were back amongst the trees. Byakuya cast a sad look back at where he knew Hisana's tree stood...he hoped.

"That's what you don't get," said Senbonzakura, having seemingly read his mind. "Hisana's is still there, it's not going to go anywhere. It will always be there. But it's finished growing, and if you keep neglecting this new one in its favour..." Senbonzakura nodded toward the new tree. Its blossom, which had only just opened, had fallen to the ground below. "Then this one will never have its chance to grow..."

"But...I love my wife..." Byakuya said, barely listening to himself, only staring at the fallen blossom, the sight of which filled him with a deep sadness.

"I know," he heard Senbonzakura reply.

"But I love—" he began, and even before he finished, a second bud broke open and spread out, all in white.

Byakuya suddenly felt Senbonzakura's hand on his shoulder. "I know."

* * *

The Hollow's roar tearing through the night brought Byakuya back in a rush. A storm of pink blades came crashing into its side, but it resisted and stalked forward at only a slowed pace, as if walking against a pretty strong gust of wind. Byakuya heard Karin scramble behind him, then went deaf as something slammed into the side of his head. The silence broke into a high-pitched ringing as he twisted through the air, arms and legs akimbo, before hitting the ground hard enough to empty his lungs.

Without taking time to inhale or even look up from the road, Byakuya thrust his arm out in the direction of Karin's heavy breathing, and from the corner of his eye caught the yellow-orange light of the barrier he'd erected around her. Now he couldn't hear her at all, and though it was only because she was inside the barrier, it still filled him with unease. Filling his lungs so quickly that they burned, he sprang up just in time to see the _Adjuchas_ punch the cube of light, partially shattering it.

Byakuya dashed for Senbonzakura's hilt, which he'd dropped when the beast sent him flying. He rolled over it and came up on his knees with it in his hands, before throwing it in the Hollow's direction. It arced right between the Hollow and the barrier before touching the ground. It then dropped out of sight into the road as if it had fallen in water.

"_Bankai_."

The Hollow leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding the gigantic _katana_ blade which had sprung up between it and the barrier, joined by many others in succession, creating a giant metal fence which kept it from its prey. At the same time, a second row erupted behind it, preventing its total retreat. It looked up and down, left and right, seemingly confused.

Funny, he'd heard they were the smart ones.

The blades all at once evaporated into billions of pink petals, which converged on the Hollow. They buried him like an avalanche before he could even shriek, as the barrier around Karin faded away. It was over.

However, just as Byakuya got to his feet, something burst out of the blade storm, rocketing into the air: it was the Hollow, missing an arm as well as both its legs, but still very much alive. It roared as it descended on Karin like a lightning bolt, arm outstretched, ready for the finishing blow.

Except it wasn't ready, because it had not been the one to deliver it. And as it fell in half a mere foot from its target, Byakuya couldn't help his surprise.

Ichigo Kurosaki, clad in his new _bankai_, stood before him.

"Long time no see, Byakuya," he said.


	7. Chapter 7

In the month or so after Karin's second collapse, Byakuya had become an entirely different person. Well, not_ entirely_.

He still never let a smile through, or encouraged her, but his eyes became gentler, and when she did something right, he told her so. At first Karin had found the turnaround very jarring, but quickly grew to enjoy it. It gave her a warm feeling inside every time he pointed out anything she didn't mess up, or even just when he kept quiet about the things she _did_. He'd started doing that, too. She could tell that he still noticed without saying anything: every trip, every stumble, every fall...

Well, she hoped there was one fall he hadn't noticed.

It had been hard and fast, too fast. She couldn't pinpoint it, because it wasn't something that just happened like that. In fact, it might have started even before his change of attitude, though she didn't see how. He'd been a complete jerk. A flawlessly graceful, painfully handsome, look-how-perfectly-I-do-everything kind of jerk. How could—?

But maybe that was it. She'd already known, even back when she didn't like him very much, that he _looked_ like the kind of guy any girl wanted: he was astoundingly good-looking, and what was more, as she understood it, he was basically a sort of prince. And every girl wants her prince, she admitted, even her. Deep down.

So when his personality started shifting to match his looks, she guessed it happened because she'd been secretly waiting for him, even if the secret had been so well-kept that she herself hadn't known it. And when the wait was over, her heart all but leaped off the edge – for it had been taking its running start the whole while. It had only taken two weeks, tops, for thoughts of him to fill her every waking moment. A mere fourteen days spelled the difference between hating Byakuya and having a major crush on him. And though it was only a crush, that was still pretty embarrassing.

To be fair, the dinners helped. It had at some point become ritual for them to eat together following a tough day of training. _Shinigami_ training really took a lot out of a person, and short of sacking out right in the courtyard, eating was the quickest way to get it all back. It was never made out or meant to be anything special – strictly the replenishing of energy to ensure an even more productive day tomorrow. It was always completely silent save for the occasional instruction Byakuya gave to the staff, and there was no conversing, reviewing, or confessing of any kind.

But a lot was said anyway. Not in words, but in actions. For one, Byakuya never took a single bite for any length of time in which Karin was excused, and waited patiently until she returned, as if afraid he'd finish without her. And she guessed he hadn't wanted her to notice, but sometimes, out the corner of her eye, she'd catch it: his eyes, normally glued to his plate, would flicker up to her for a split second whenever she tried something new. At first, she figured it was just to make sure she wasn't being rude to him and his staff by avoiding certain things, but over time it became clear.

She hadn't thought she'd showed on her face what she liked and disliked so blatantly, however. Still, each new dinner was filled with more and more of the things she enjoyed, with whatever she didn't being weeded out as they were discovered. It was too coincidental – and spot-on – to just be Byakuya's preferences being reflected. He was tailoring the dinners to her taste, little by little, so that to anyone who wasn't looking for that sort of thing, it might slip by unnoticed.

In his own, quiet way, he'd started being quite nice to her. But thankfully, you didn't fall in love with someone just because they were nice...

You did it because they risked their lives protecting you; or at least, that's how it had been with her. For weeks, Karin's shame at the swiftness with which she had fallen for Byakuya had only been balanced by the pride she felt in _not_, at least, being in _love_ with him. Crushes faded away, and having a crush on one's _sensei_ was too cliché to possibly bother her for much longer...

Then the Hollow attacked – stronger, faster, _scarier_ than any she'd ever seen or felt before. It had come right for her while she was returning home from training. She was alone, Byakuya having already left through the _Senkaimon_ after seeing her off, and she felt sure that it would be the end – the thing's aura was so thick it nearly suffocated her even as it bounded closer.

But Byakuya came out of nowhere to put himself between her and the Hollow, and he paid for it when it took a swipe at him. As his head reeled back from the force, which also knocked Karin hard enough in the chest to wind her, she felt something hot hit her face: Byakuya's blood. The image of her red fingertips horrified Karin. It was all her fault, it was all because of her!

...And then it started making sense. It was _all because of her_.

She took a second even in the midst of it all to chide herself for thinking something so selfish...But why else would he let himself get pummelled like that? Their training was done, he had already gone, and as he'd told her before, she was no longer his responsibility once she was in Karakura. So then why...?

Her heart jumped when she'd felt him move her with his arm so that she was securely behind, and he became her shield. She thought it had only surprised her, that she'd just been caught up in her head and been startled. But a little bit later, when Byakuya, laid out on his back and bleeding, raised his _zanpakuto_'s empty hilt seemingly in the face of death, she knew it. In that moment, she knew that she loved this protector of hers.

Could she do that? She was only sixteen, could she really know what love was?

She didn't know the answer, but she knew that love was the only excuse for hugging him like this.

* * *

What had gotten into her? What had possessed her to suddenly rush over to him and hug him like this? He thought maybe she was just shaken, but she didn't seem to be crying, or even saying anything, she just _stayed _there, _clinging_ to him. Why?

And more importantly, why was he just _letting her_?

He looked up from the top of her head: maybe it was to keep that expression on Ichigo Kurosaki's face for as long he could. The boy's jaw was almost to the ground, his eyes bulged, his gaze wild and transfixed on the two of them.

Was it really so shocking to see Byakuya being hugged?

"I'm—" came Karin's muffled voice suddenly, her breath warming a spot on his chest. "I'm glad...you're not hurt..._Sensei_..." she said. Then she looked up at him, her hand following her gaze until her fingers came as lightly as a spring breeze upon his bloody temple. _I'm sorry_, moved her lips, though the accompanying words were too strangled to hear.

A lump forced its way up Byakuya's constricted throat. She was touching his grievously wounded head, so then why was the pain he felt not there? How were her eyes paining his chest so much more than her fingers were his temple? As each tear fell along her cheek, he felt like they were ripping into his chest. The hurt of another had never pained him so much...except...

He wanted to push her away. Not only was this improper and unprofessional, it was also proving to be quite discomforting. But he stayed his hands, fearing that if he were to touch her now, he would not end up letting her go, but instead—

He heard Senbonzakura chuckle in his sheath, apparently satisfied at having gotten to him. But, really, all he had done was prove that the _potential _was there. If he kept Hisana on his mind, maybe he could return to his senses yet. But he couldn't do that with her pressed against him like this. He could feel her—

"K-K-_Karin_!" came Ichigo Kurosaki's cracking voice.

"You know each other?" Byakuya asked, raising a brow. As quickly as it had come, the pressure against him was gone. He exhaled the breath he realized he'd been holding.

Ichigo Kurosaki pointed accusingly. "That's _my _line!" he roared. "She's my—"

The flying side kick Karin delivered to Ichigo Kurosaki's stomach caused the rest of his words to spill out in a wheeze before he fell onto the ground in a heap.

Well, even _if_ he wasn't in love with her yet, she certainly knew the way to get him there.

"Neighbour!" Karin finished for him as she popped up, both her hands plastered over Kurosaki's mouth as he writhed and wriggled.

Perfect.

"Then I trust you can escort her home safely," Byakuya said as he turned, denying Ichigo Kurosaki the chance to object. The _jigokucho_ he'd brought with him suddenly reappeared, as did the _Senkaimon_ a short distance away.

"_Sensei_," he heard Karin call apprehensively. It irked him that he had to will himself not to run to the call.

"I shall see you tomorrow, as always," he told her without looking back.

"_Sensei_, I—thank you!" she called. She sounded relieved, happy. And just like that, the pain in Byakuya's chest was gone, replaced with something warm.

"Until tomorrow," he said, then stepped into the blinding light.

* * *

Over the course of the following week, Byakuya found that keeping Hisana prioritized in his mind was difficult once it turned against him.

Byakuya had never been one to be tempted by beauty, even as a youngster. The sensation of Yoruichi's breasts in his face, for example, inspired only anger each and every time; and until Hisana, he'd never seen any woman much differently than any other person. But love had a way of casting its target in such a light that could make angels of crones, and Hisana had certainly been no crone to begin with. With Byakuya's love came an unfamiliar and rather awkward physical infatuation with the woman, unlike anything he'd felt before. No, love didn't _make_ anyone beautiful, but rather brought their beauty to the fore, as clearly and intensely as the shining sun.

He hadn't noticed that of anyone since Hisana. Even Rukia's striking resemblance was not enough alone to work on him as Hisana's appearance had done through the eyes of love. But then, that day, Senbonzakura had scraped along Karin's _zanpakuto_. He hadn't realized it at the time, but the similarity to his wife at that moment had served to bring her to his attention, which he otherwise kept staunchly away from thoughts of that kind. And then he realized she could look rather...endearing.

Only because of Hisana; because he wasn't seeing the girl, but seeing _through_ her, to his wife. However, Karin's personality was too abrasive, too vibrant to be ignored, and it eventually eclipsed Hisana in his view of her. She eventually stopped reminding Byakuya of his wife – and that was far worse...because he found himself still...endeared to her, in a sense. A student-teacher sense, of course.

She'd somehow found a way, against all odds, to make Byakuya proud of her. Perhaps it was due to him going easier on her following her collapse. Whatever the reason, she quickly accomplished much, she succeeded at tests more often, and she made far fewer mistakes. In all this, Karin earned his pride – though he couldn't recall exactly when. But as he proudly looked upon her, he'd catch himself again finding how endearing she could be.

So when had she gone from _endearing _to _cute_? And then rocketed so far beyond that that it made training with her downright impossible?

Was she...beautiful?

Impossible. Perhaps the stars at night had simply dimmed with time, so that when measured against the glinting of her dark eyes, the night sky seemed lackluster where before it had been majestic. And it was possible that the sight of moonlight playing across water was one he'd seen too often, so that by now it could be outdone simply by the shimmering of her raven hair. And it had clearly been too long since he'd viewed the fireworks of a festival, because the blazing spectacle in his memory seemed less captivating now than the quiet gentleness of her smile.

Or perhaps...

Yes, he guessed that was that. Karin, unfortunately enough, _was_ beautiful. Too young, and too beautiful.

He found he could no longer raise a hand at her, let alone his _zanpakuto_. Instead, he found inspiration in the days of his boyhood – in the game of tag.

"Today, your only task shall be to attempt to place a hand on me," he said, his mind wilfully moving past his compromising wording.

"Yes, _Sensei_..." Karin affirmed, though apprehensively. She seemed quite worried, and that looked very—

He took off, as much to begin the test as to leave behind his rampant thoughts. He gave himself a harsh reprimand as he zigzagged at top speed about the wide courtyard. Then, suddenly, he felt her _reiatsu_ encroaching on his: first approaching, then falling back as he shot ahead, but always returning, and always coming closer than before. It was like the ebbing and flowing of the tide. She was doing surprisingly well, so he turned on his heel to dash off at an extreme angle in another direction.

But before he could take off, their gazes ran into each other's. In that moment, the colour of Karin's face intensified past the point that the running had already brought it, her cheeks flushing as if—

She lost her footing and stumbled.

"_S-Sensei_..." she said the next second, in which Byakuya realized that he'd sped over to catch her, and was still holding her about the stomach, suspending her nose a few inches from the grass below. He nearly drew his hand away, but didn't. Rather, Karin's hand was the one to move, as she brought it up to place upon his chest. As her fingers spread out across it to allow her palm a full connection, chills assaulted Byakuya on the back of the neck.

"Looks like I passed, huh?"

"Excuse me?"

"I...laid a hand on you, _Sensei_."

Byakuya eased her up so that she stood before him, her face still very red, but not from running.

"Clearly, that will not be counted," Byakuya told her as coolly as he could manage.

"Then why did you do it?" Karin asked, utterly confused. When Byakuya failed to answer, she added, "I mean, it's not like it would have hurt or anything. It was only grass." She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke.

Byakuya was glad for that. He couldn't come up with a valid answer, except...

"Don't underestimate _shunpo_. You were moving quite fast. Any fall you might have taken at such speed would undoubtedly ruin my courtyard," he lied to the both of them. "Perhaps we should resume tomorrow," he suggested.

Karin looked shocked. "Why?" she asked desperately, "we only just started! I'll be more careful, okay? I promise I won't mess up your courtyard or anything!" she begged. Byakuya thought that, after more than two months of straight day-to-day training, she'd actually welcome a break. So why was she so vehement about staying?

Her eyes were already working to eat away at his resolve like rust on a fence. But he couldn't go on like this, like he was today. He needed time to compose himself. He had to be firm.

But that didn't mean he had to look her in the eye. He turned.

"You need rest. We'll resume tomorrow once your strength and focus have returned," he said. The words were meant for him, but directed at her.

"Yes, _Sensei_," he heard her say resignedly.

* * *

Byakuya thought he'd never summoned a _Senkaimon_ so quickly in his entire life. As they stepped out into the front yard of Kisuke Urahara's shop, as usual, his ears were accosted by a saccharine voice brimming with excitement.

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Jinta-_kun_!"

A young woman, maybe Karin's age, with short, light brown hair that flipped up slightly at the bottom, waved exuberantly at the storefront, where a red-faced, red-haired boy wasn't paying attention to her, but rather staring at the two of them.

"Ah, Yuzu," Karin said, seeming to recognize the girl. "My sister," she said, answering Byakuya's silent raising of an eyebrow at her.

"She can't see us?"

"No, she's not like me and—" Karin stopped short. "She doesn't see spirits."

"You guys are back already?" came a voice from behind. Byakuya turned to see Ichigo Kurosaki in his human body, striding up to them.

"That's none of your business," Byakuya told him. He assured Karin that he'd return tomorrow and went to leave...

"_Onii-chan_!"

It was the saccharine voice. Karin's _sister's_ voice.

Byakuya pivoted just in time to see the girl, Yuzu, assault Ichigo Kurosaki with an energetic hug.

But...that meant...

Karin's stunned expression confirmed it all. Her face seemed to have pulled itself into a death rigor, and didn't even twitch as she stared with empty eyes at the hugging siblings. _Her _siblings.

"Karin...Kurosaki?" he offered.

After a moment that felt too long, Karin nodded absently.

"I see," Byakuya said, barely keeping a lid on the resentment snaking up his throat.

It had all been a lie, a trick. It was clear to him now that everyone had known from the start – certainly Hirako had, that's why he was so...Everyone knew! And they'd kept it from him! And Karin...

Karin had lied to him.

"_Sensei_, I—"

That was all Byakuya caught before the _Senkaimon _closed behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

Karin's eyes shot open, and she was faced with her bedroom ceiling.

_That dream again_, she thought. The pink mist, all-encompassing, so thick that she couldn't see her hands in front of her, and pressing in around her all the time as if trying to crush her, but failing because, of course, it was only mist. She felt lost in it, like there was something she was looking for as she stumbled dumbly through it. It was as if she would be able to simply reach out and touch whatever it was she needed to find, but she could never tell where her hands were. It was an awful sort of feeling.

And it didn't go away whenever she awoke, not really. It was always there now, the day could only distract from it for a while. She wasn't sure when it had started, but ever since the soccer tournament, she'd had this anxious feeling, like she'd lost something to look forward to, rendering her perpetually bored. She guessed it was because the tournament was over now, and she'd worked so hard toward it in the weeks beforehand that it left a hole in her days. It already felt like it was so long ago, like a dream. She could barely remember playing in it at all.

Yuzu's yelling from downstairs about breakfast forced Karin up, since she wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep anyway. She'd much rather have stayed in bed, all day if possible, but the world didn't let you take a break just because you felt like it. So she trudged down the stairs and, reaching the kitchen, afforded her sister a smile. The one she received in return was very sad, and she knew it was because Yuzu had realized that Karin's smile had been faked.

"Morning," Karin said as she sat at the table, quickly adding, "No breakfast for me, thanks" before Yuzu could dish her up.

"Karin-_chan_!" Yuzu whined, brows furrowed, cheeks puffed. "You can't keep skipping breakfast!" she reprimanded, putting her hands on her hips. "You need it to give you energy for the day!"

"I don't have anything to do today, so it's fine if I skip breakfast, isn't it?" Karin asked, turning her nose to the air.

"It's _not_ fine!" Yuzu stamped her foot, but in a slipper, it really didn't make the sound she hoped for. "You should come with me today to Urahara-_san_'s place!" she suggested, a bright smile suddenly overtaking her face as she clapped her hands together.

That was the _last_ thing Karin wanted. For a reason she couldn't quite explain to herself, seeing Yuzu and Jinta together made her hurt now. She'd never had a boyfriend before, though. She hoped she wasn't just jealous enough to cause herself pain over it, but there was no other explanation.

"Thanks, but I think I'll stay home today if that's okay," she replied, letting her tone carry across that, even if it was okay with Yuzu, she was staying.

Yuzu's shoulders slumped and she seemed to give up. "Yeah, okay," she said, not annoyed, but sadly, as she turned back to the breakfast foods she'd prepared. She began loading way too much food for one man onto a plate that she would put in the fridge for their dad, who was out somewhere this morning. Maybe he'd told them where he was going, Karin couldn't remember.

A little while later, Yuzu left for the _Shoten_. Karin wondered why Jinta never came to pick her up instead. He was likely wary of their dad, unaware that he was gone today.

Karin missed the _Shoten_. She hadn't been back at all since the accident that had ended her _Shinigami_ training. Throwing herself into soccer practice helped, but she still missed it, missed Urahara-_san_, missed being a _Shinigami_, no matter how bad she was at it.

Her mind wandered once again to the topic of Urahara-_san_ – did she have a crush on him or something? She asked herself that question almost every day, just trying to uncover the reason for her constant melancholy. She didn't _think_ she liked him that way, but it felt like that was what she was missing: a person, maybe a friend? Someone she liked who'd moved away or something.

Maybe that was all it was, and they'd just been away for so long that Karin had forgotten who she was missing. Maybe something had reminded her of them, something at school, but without a face to put it to, all she could do was wallow in a displaced sense of longing for someone long gone.

Without the energy to trek back up the stairs, Karin just laid on the couch for maybe a long while until she was startled by the slamming of the front door: her dad was home. When his overzealous attitude toward his preserved breakfast became too much, Karin willed herself back upstairs.

Entering her room, Karin again scanned futilely it for any trace of the medal she'd received from the soccer tournament, but it remained as lost to her as it had, it seemed, since the day she'd brought it home. She felt ashamed at having misplaced it so quickly, because nobody had taken any pictures of the game, and her teammates never talked about it, so it was really all she had to remember it. It had come and gone so fast, it looked like everyone just kind of shrugged it off. Maybe it felt faraway to all of them, too.

She flopped onto her bed, but rather than nod off to sleep, she started sobbing. She hugged her pillow to her face to keep her cries from escaping it, and soon it was soggy with her tears. She didn't even know why she was crying, but it felt better than anything else had in the last few weeks, so she kept doing it. Maybe it was because she'd lost her precious memento of the soccer game, or maybe because she'd forgotten the friend she missed. For weeks she'd felt like she'd been going nowhere, like running underwater. Maybe after this, she'd be able to finally pull her head up out of it; to break the surface.

At some point, Karin had wandered back into the mist. She only realized by the time she was already searching for...whatever-it-was. She still couldn't find it but continued to look anyway, at least, until the mist crept away, pulling off into her peripherals to reveal an even more suffocating blackness. She checked, but her hands were still invisible to her.

Then, in the howling dark, she felt something, something big. It was like a tidal wave that she knew was coming but couldn't see, cresting for the longest any wave had done for, and she was just waiting, tensing, for the inevitable moment when it came crashing down upon her.

Then, right before it did, she awoke.

For a brief moment she thought that her worst nightmare had come true, that a Hollow had crept into her bedroom while she slept. But once she scrambled into a sitting position, she found that the vast presence she felt wasn't a malicious one. On the contrary, it felt very sad.

It was coming from the most handsome man she'd ever seen.

Why did he look so sad?

* * *

How had he gotten here?

As Byakuya recalled the course of events that had led him to stand at the foot of Karin's bed, he was rather frightened to find that they seemed so new to him. Like he hadn't been thinking at all.

Confronting Hirako, at least, he recalled vividly. It had taken all his learned Kuchiki uprightness not to yell at the man, but his words had come out searing hot. They'd all known, but Hirako was the one among them who had _lied_ to Byakuya's face. Byakuya had outright _asked_ the man about Karin's siblings, and he—!

Hirako's idiotic grin even took the satisfaction out of confronting him. All he'd done was raise his hands in surrender and spout some tripe about being _sorry_. The result was Byakuya being angrier when he left the barracks of the Fifth than when he'd arrived. So angry, he could scarcely recall what force had put the _Kikanshinki_in his hand, what thought or string of thoughts. He knew only two things: that he'd somehow made up his mind, and that it was better to ask forgiveness than permission. And maybe the Commander deserved a shock himself.

That day, weeks ago, he'd arrived at Ichigo Kurosaki's home rather than the shop where he normally waited for his student to arrive. As planned, he caught her before she had a chance to exit her body and stopped her. She needed to be human for it to work.

It had to work, as much for her as himself. He'd known all along that falling in love with his student was unacceptable, he'd only needed a reason to push her away without hurting her. And they'd all handed him that reason, even Karin herself. Byakuya might have let himself feel betrayed, would it not simply feed his anger. And despite it all, he didn't want to be angry at her. Yes, she too had lied, but he just couldn't—

Not when he knew she felt the same way. Senbonzakura had revealed it the night before, following the revelation of her relationship to Ichigo Kurosaki. Perhaps the _zanpakuto_ had thought it would assuage Byakuya from doing anything rash. Except Byakuya Kuchiki never did anything rash, he did only what was necessary, the best for everyone. _Noblesse oblige_.

This was his obligation now, to end it before it got out of hand. If he'd known from the start, he'd never have let it get as far as it already had. Not only was it impossible, it was an impossibility built on a _lie_. It meant nothing, and so would become nothing. He would walk out of her life forever, leaving himself relieved, her free, and all the rest of them stunned, angry, and played – just as he was. Just as they deserved. It was not revenge, that was for the common. No, this was justice.

With an explosion of pink fog, their time together was swept away. Replaced in her mind.

She was the fortunate one.

Senbonzakura hadn't talked to him since. His silence even put a damper on the Commander's reaction when Byakuya told him, utterly businesslike, that Karin _Kurosaki_ had failed to meet the criteria, and that, for the sake of the _Gotei _13, he'd removed her as a liability. There would be no repeat of Kugo Ginjo, he'd assured, because all her training was erased.

What that truly meant hit him only weeks later, and once it had, sleep became only a fond memory.

Karin still had _reiryoku_, which meant she might still attract Hollows, only now, she had no defence. All the skills she'd learned with which to defeat them had gone along with everything else. It was true she still had memories as far back as her days training with Urahara, but frankly, he'd done a terrible job. Byakuya had left her as a bird with clipped wings, dropped in a forest with no way to climb.

He'd have to cut her _Saketsu _and _Hakusui_ to ensure her total safety.

So now he was here, in her bedroom, Senbonzakura drawn. Just staring.

Again he ordered his arm to raise, and again it disobeyed. The look in her eyes seemed to have drawn out every last drop of resolve he had, leaving him paralyzed.

"Are you a _Shinigami _Captain?" she asked.

Byakuya nearly dropped his sword.

He'd known that she'd not remember him, but being faced with it firsthand was more than he'd prepared for. _Now_ his arms found the will to move, but in completely the wrong way: they wanted to wrap around her, and stay there until they either jogged something – _anything –_ or were pried off.

"I am," he heard his voice respond as if in a tunnel, feeling very far away from himself.

"Is there something wrong?" he heard her ask.

"Do not worry, you've done nothing wrong," his voice echoed reassuringly.

Karin shook her head. "Not me, I mean with you. Are you sad?"

Byakuya's free hand was on his face before he could think, and his fingertips came off dry. Well, at least he wasn't...

"No," he said commandingly, dropping his arm to his side once more. "It's nothing. I have come here to remove your spiritual powers."

"Oh...okay," she said, casting downward a painfully sorrowful glance. That, at least, had been easier than he'd expected. He wondered what had gone through her head to make it so. But it didn't matter. She stood and put some distance between the bed and her, which Byakuya stepped in to fill.

"It will not hurt," he assured her while, with the same words, lying to himself. Karin nodded, shut her eyes tight, and tensed.

Byakuya was glad she'd closed her eyes, so she didn't see his arm quiver as he finally mustered the strength to raise it above his head. Nor did she notice it hitch the first time he attempted to swing it. He took a deep breath...

The door behind Karin burst open, and someone who looked like, but did not feel like, Ichigo Kurosaki rushed in. He was wearing a dark blue, fingerless glove with something printed on the back. Before Karin could turn, he yelled her name and thrust his gloved hand into her back. She fell out of herself clad in a _shihakusho_, knocking into Byakuya and sending them together onto the bed behind him. He managed not to fall all the way back and stayed sitting upright on the edge of the bed, Karin in his arms, her face buried in his chest.

Byakuya was frozen. He knew what this meant: _Kikanshinki _were designed for the human mind, and had no effect on _Shinigami_. It could do nothing about the memories the soul kept. It was only because they were encased in the shell of her human mind, which he'd clouded over, that it had worked at all.

Which meant—

"Byakuya-_sensei_..."

Byakuya couldn't move, couldn't remove his arms. It was all he could do to glower at the soul wearing Ichigo's skin until it scampered away in fear and left them alone.

"Byakuya-_sensei_," she said again, more forcefully, "what happened?"

"I—"

"Did you make me forget?" she cut in, her face still in his chest, which ached inside.

"...I did," he admitted quietly.

Karin began to sob, and the tears that hit Byakuya's chest burned into it like acid. Maybe it was that pain which made him tense, clutching her tighter at the same time.

"You promised," she hissed, her voice thick with unreleased sobs. Byakuya had been about to say something, when suddenly she added, "Why?"

Byakuya was silent for a long while as she continued to groan into his chest.

"I was afraid," he said before he knew it.

Karin let out a single, hollow laugh devoid of humour. "You? Afraid? What a bad joke."

"I am not joking," he said, then got some breaths in him. Then some more, when he realized they hadn't been enough. "It is a frightening thing...to fall in love."

Karin flinched. "I won't apologize," she said suddenly, her tone hard. "Just because I...with you, I...That doesn't give you the right to—"

"I was not talking about you," Byakuya interrupted.

Karin met his eyes with an expression that might have been one of shock, elation, pity, disappointment, or some combination of the four. She pushed away from him, rocking back on her heels as they hit the floor and nearly toppling over at the speed. Her arms fell limp at her sides as her hands balled into shaky fists, and her gaze left his to touch the floor.

"That's a cruel thing to say, _Sensei_..." she said, perhaps angrily, perhaps sadly, but hurt regardless.

Byakuya stood. "True. I have no right to say it, and at this point it makes no difference," he told her in his trademark tone.

Karin stamped her foot, but didn't look up. "You're _lying_!" she exclaimed. "You lied about not kicking me out again, and—" her words were choked off as tears flooded in. "..._You're lying_," she repeated quietly, almost to herself.

"Suit yourself," he forced himself to say. _Your hating me is just as well_, he'd been about to finish, but couldn't find the will. "I shall go."

"What?" came Karin's voice in shock, stopping Byakuya in his tracks. "That's it? I thought you loved me."

"I thought I was _lying_," he came back a little scathingly.

"Were you?" he heard her ask earnestly. "If you were, then just g—"

Byakuya wasn't sure what had caused her to stop short: the clatter of Senbonzakura hitting the floor, or her being pulled back into Byakuya's chest.

"Lying is unbecoming of nobility," he told the top of her head as he held her to him with one arm, the other limp at his side. He expected her to push him away again, but the next moment felt her arms wrap around his stomach.

"I missed you so much," she sobbed. When Byakuya stayed silent, Karin's grip on him tightened painfully. "Hey, aren't you gonna tell me that too?" she asked irritably without looking at him.

"I assumed it was implied," he gave her. He felt her shake her head.

"You gotta say it," she ordered.

Byakuya could tell right then that she was going to be a handful, but...

"I as well," he said.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I did as you asked," he said sternly, separating them. "Now—"

A rough, calloused hand closed around Byakuya's face, enveloping his word in darkness. He felt air rush past him as he was spirited away, unable to resist the steely grip.

When light came rushing back, Byakuya blinked to see himself standing in the air across from another _Shinigami_. Slightly taller and older-looking than Byakuya, the man had short, black hair which stood on end in abrupt points, an unshaven face, and a tattered Captain's _haori_ fastened about his shoulder. His dark-eyed gaze was like that of a raptor.

"Jeez, you Kuchiki just can't stay away from my kids, huh?" he said, sounding rather bored. "I don't suppose you've got an older sister looking for some company?" he added with a grin.

"You're Karin's father," Byakuya deduced aloud.

"That's right. Isshin Kurosaki," he said, his expression letting Byakuya know that the man's own name was music to his ears. Then the raptor's gaze fell on Byakuya again as the man thrust an arm out to point at him accusingly. "And I'm gonna make sure you don't hurt my little girl!" he said with gusto in place of anger.

"You intend to fight me?"

Isshin seemed stunned at the thought. "Don't be stupid, that just wouldn't be fair," he said, waving Byakuya off.

The man was not lying. And that gave Byakuya pause. The well of his _reiryoku_ seemed to run so deep that Byakuya couldn't feel the bottom. His _reiatsu _was well-contained, but he was letting it saturate everything around them, likely to prove his point.

"And as much as I might want to kick your ass, I think Karin would probably hate me for it," he went on, casting a backward glance at the window of Karin's bedroom, which Karin was leaning out of in suspense. "I'm just here to lay down the rules."

Isshin raised his first finger. "One: Karin's only sixteen, so I don't want anything serious going on until she's older. Got it?"

"Naturally," Byakuya agreed.

Isshin's middle finger joined the first.

"Two: if you _ever_ do _anything _to hurt my daughter again, I get to kill you," he said. The last part sounded too nonchalant for what it was.

"Understood," Byakuya told him anyway. The two men didn't break their gaze for a long while.

When they finally did, it was because Isshin had turned his on his own raised fingers. He looked them over with an odd surprise on his face.

"Huh. I guess that's all I got," he said in mild astonishment. Then the raptor gaze returned with his solemness. "But don't forget it," he growled.

"Of course," Byakuya replied.

Isshin smirked back at Byakuya before strolling over to where his daughter had been watching them. Then he picked her up in one hand by the back of her _shihakusho_, and _threw_ her at Byakuya. She screeched as she rocketed through the air, before slamming into Byakuya, who cradled her in his arms.

"What the hell, Dad?!" she roared at the man, writhing in Byakuya's grip.

Isshin gave Byakuya a thumbs-up coupled with a wink. "Good, you passed the first test!" he shouted as Byakuya remained stunned. "Now go apologize to my daughter properly!" he commanded. Then he vanished, and Byakuya was unable to follow his movement.

That man...

The feeling of Karin's arms looping around his neck pulled Byakuya out of his thoughts. "So, what now?" she asked, as if he should know.

"If you like, you may join me for dinner," Byakuya offered. It seemed natural.

Karin nodded happily, but when Byakuya went to let her down, she clung tighter to his neck. He knew she could walk on air, he'd taught her how. But when he looked down at her face, it was red.

Byakuya lifted a brow. "Do you expect me to carry you there?" he asked. Karin responded by resting her head on his chest.

"No one will see you," she argued. "You can move fast enough, right?"

"That's hardly the issue..." he began, but he stopped when he felt someone poke him in the forehead.

After a moment, he took off, Karin in his arms.

Yes, she was going to be quite a handful, it seemed.


End file.
